CoastersRZ

As a ride operator at Coney, empty days are always some what nice. Things can be a little bit more relaxed when there aren`t large crowds in the park. And guests are generally a more happy too, since they haven`t had to wait dozens of minutes or even hours to ride the rides.

From Cincinnati.com: http://communitypress.cincinnati.com/artic.../NEWS/905010310 River Downs is located immediately to the east of Coney Island and Riverbend Music Center. River Downs` history actually begins with Coney Island back in 1925. Rud Hynicka and George Schott of Coney Island, along with other investors and the Exhibitors and Breeders Association (Incorporated) built the Coney Island Race Course. The facility opened on July 6th, 1925. Problems arose with gambling accusations and the facility was shuttered on August 7th, 1926. Ownership was reorganized and George Schott was no longer involved with the facility. Instead, Realty Holding, Inc. became the new owners, and they reopened the track in 1933. It would be a shame to see the facility close due to lack of visitors. It will be interesting to see what the future unfolds for this facility. The track itself is located in Anderson Township, and just north of the Ohio River, so like Coney, flooding is an issue.

And part of the late debut of that feature may in fact be due to the chance for late April frosts that could harm those plants. As a side note, last year there was a slight change to the floral calendar. Up through 2007, it had the original Kings Island logo in it. Last year, there was no Kings Island lettering or logo in the floral calendar.

Actually, the changing spot lights that currently illuminate the tower at night were installed for Winterfest in 2005. An there are more than just one spot light. There are three on the ground (one on each leg and one next to the International Street Bandstand. There are several more lights directly on the tower itself.

Please use the search feature on the forums. Most of you questions can be answered in other areas without creating brand new topics. Topic closed.

From KI`s gold pass page here: http://www.visitkingsisland.com/events/events.cfm?ec_id=27. It doesn`t say what the actual deal is though. In the past, it has been four drinks, four salads and a pizza.

But Cedar Point has something that Kings Island does not currently have: on site hotels. CP produces a lot of out of park revenue that helps add to the bottom line. Currently, all of the money generated at Kings Island is within the confines of the park itself. Could we see a hotel built on some of KI`s excess land in the future as a way to generate additional revenue? Sure. Do I see it happening any time soon? No. Not given Cedar Fair`s debt levels and their recent push to pay down some of their debt.

The flooring that is used in the Action Zone, on the Diamondback trains, and even on The Crypt`s ride platform are all the same material. It is a rubber flooring material. Check out this manufacturer`s website: http://www.norarubber.com/Products/Design/....cfm?pfamnr=110. Look familiar? I`m not sure if that is the same manufacturer that made the flooring for the rides listed above, but it is a similar product.

A full queue on Diamondback is about forty five minutes. Which is not a bad wait for the ride, and the shade is fairly decent in the first part of the queue. One suggestion is to NOT ride it first thing in the day. There is a mad rush to ride it then. If you wait a couple of hours, the wait time will be less.

I actually had to wait about five minutes for more single rider cards on Sunday around 11:45.

First things first. The early ride time starts at 9am on Saturday, and 9:30 am the other days of the week. When I went this Sunday, they didn`t open the metal detectors until around 9:25. The Gold and Platinum Pass holder entrance for the early ride time is located near the Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle exit. They have people checking your passes (just flash your pass). Granted, a lot of pass holders will be there, so it won`t be exactly walk on rides on Diamondback. I got two rides in during the thirty minute ERT on Sunday. As of opening day, the park was not closing the ride line for Diamondback early. That being said, The Beast does stop operating (the line remains open until 10pm) at around 9:45 until after the fireworks display and the all clear is given. Everyone in the ride line gets to ride once the ride reopens. I believe that The Racer operating under a similar procedure. Choosing seats is not exactly an option on Diamondback. Both single riders and the normal line will be directed to their seats by one of the two separators working in the station. That being said, you can request to ride in the front or back of the train, and most times they will honor your request for those seats. The single rider line begins at the greeter station. You will be given a single rider card and proceed through the single rider line. This line is used to fill in empty seats from odd number groups in the regular line, and you really don`t get to choose your seat. And you may be waiting at the top of the stairs for a while if there are a lot of even numbered groups. Overall, the single rider line may save you some time. However, if the greeter is out of the single rider cards, you either have to wait for more, or enter the standard line. Does that answer most of your questions?

Just goes to show that when taking cell phones on rides with you, they need to be secured in a cargo pocket. Just putting them in a pocket with no fasteners is just asking for the loose articles to come out during the ride. I only bring my cell phone to the park (I leave my iPod at home) and put it and my keys in pockets that button shut. Several years back, I almost lost my phone on Adventure Express when getting off the train when it slipped out of my unsecured pocket.

Well, there are already two shows that opened with the park. And once the regular summer season gets going, Kings Island has a wide variety of shows. Yes, it would be nice to broaden the family rides line up some (especially after the removal of the Antique Cars and Flying Eagles (which are still thrilling families down at Carowinds)). There is Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle, which is a very much less sophisticated version of Toy Story Midway Mania. And Kings Island is one of only a handful of parks in the chain (the only Paramount Park) that still has its steam train which is a great family ride.

And just so you know it is "ride op" as in ride operator, not ride opt. Just saying, as someone who has been a ride operator for seven season at Coney.

As far as I know, the Kings Island Resort and Conference Center was the only hotel that offered shuttles last year. I`m not sure if they are this year or not, but typically they had provided shuttles for as long as I can remember. There used to be a Holiday Inn near the Beach (it was reflagged a few years back) that offered a shuttle as well, but it has likely been five plus years since they had a shuttle.

I suggest you check out Coney Island Central. The information on there for the flat rides is more accurate than some of the information you posted on there. For example, the Scrambler running at Coney now did not open in 1957. It opened in 1991. The original Scrambler (now located at KI) opened at Coney in 1957. The current Scrambler running at Coney was actually manufactured sometime in the 1940s. I forget the exact year. Also, you fail to mention all the kiddie rides, which are also flat rides. And why going to Wikipedia, other than to find sources of information. Because anyone can edit it, you cannot guarantee the authenticity of any information posted on there.

Yes, the crowds were light. For those wondering, they were using the single rider line tonight as well. At some points, the line extended all the way back to the greeter/entrance sign, but no queues were open. Still, even from there it was only about a ten minute wait. Night rides are amazing. Tonight, unlike last Saturday, they had all the lights off on the mid course brake run and the associated stair, which made the back part of the ride completely dark. All in all, I got seven rides in on Diamondback tonight (I`m up to 18 so far). Also, in the station someone on here asked if I was Ryan (Boddah1994). I didn`t catch your name or sn. It was nice to meet you. I finished my night with a ride on The Beast on the first train out after the ride reopened from the fireworks.

Some of those questions, such as how fast the dispatches are, depends on other circumstances and when you look at the ride. Ie, there may be some unforeseen delay that causes a couple trains to be delayed. And, unless there is absolutely nobody at the park tonight wanting to ride Diamondback, and barring and mechanical difficulties, I think it would be safe to assume that Diamondback will be running all three trains.

I`d imagine there will be. It is a given that there will be some sort of fence separating the parking lot from the Sunlite Pool area. Remember that the Twister is only occupying about 1/3 of the land that the Zoom Flume did, so there will be more open grass area this year at Sunlite Pool, which opens for the season on Saturday, May 23.

Night rides on Diamondback are pretty good. Not quite as good as The Beast, but still good. Its amazing how dark the first drop is considering it drops right over the midway! There are lights on the mid course brake run that illuminate the area back there, but it is still a nice night ride. Going above and below the tree lines on every drop is a nice experience as you get to see all the lights of the park and surrounding buildings at night appear and disappear.

Or not depositing trash in the trashcans?

Not quite sure what you mean by that comment. The Carowinds schedule on their website has them being open this Friday and Saturday. For another look at Carowinds, check out my PTR from opening weekend to Carowinds this year here: http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=16887

All the pieces of the slide on The Twister are now in place. Check out the photos here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/photo.ph...0525&ref=nf

I am not certain, but I believe that Coney season passes are not valid for the Appalachian festival.

I`d like to shed a little light on this subject. Mason was incorporated as a city in 1970. However, it was a part of Deerfield Township as well until 1997 as Ryan stated. In February of that year, Mason withdrew from the township. It was also that year that the park was annexed from Deerfield Township to Mason. A court battle ensued that ended up with KI being partially in Mason and Deerfield Township. That agreement sent some tax money to Deerfield Township. In September of 1999, Mason officially annexed the park, ending the parks ties with Deerfield Township. So in a sense, both of you were in fact correct! For more information, check out this Cincinnati Enquirer article from September 15th, 1999: http://www.enquirer.com/editions/1999/09/1...xes_all_of.html That article does not include a graphic that the printed Enquirer contained. In that graphic it mentioned land that was owned by Great American north of Kings Island that was once home to the College Football Hall of Fame, which opened in 1978. That was developed by Taft Broadcasting as part of the overall destination development that they were building at Kings Island and coupled with the tennis, golf center, campground, and Kings Island Inn to offer a complete destination. With the purchase of Kings Entertainment Co. by Carl Lindner and Great American, they became the owners of most of these periphery entertainment options that were not part of Kings Island, which was later sold to Paramount in July of 1992.